Uzbekistan intends to introduce specialized tourist bus services in Samarkand and Bukhara. These services will connect airports and railway stations with major attractions and hotels as part of a presidential decree project that defines the strategy for developing the country's local passenger transport until 2030.
In Samarkand, express buses 'Tourist Shuttle' and circular routes are planned for launch by the end of 2027. They will connect Samarkand International Airport, the railway station, Registan Square, Shah-i-Zinda complex, Bokhi-Sahar complex, and major hotels. Additionally, the city plans to introduce an integrated digital tourist navigation system to improve access to information about transport and places of interest.
The implementation of these measures will be carried out by the regional administration of Samarkand and the Ministry of Transport, without additional funding being provided. In the Bukhara region, the express bus service is scheduled to begin operation in February 2028. It will run continuously between the railway station, international airport, Old City, and hotels.
The regional administration of Bukhara and the Ministry of Transport are also responsible for this implementation, and no additional funding is required here either. A separate initiative provides for the pilot launch of a unified ticketing system on July 1, 2027, for the route connecting Tashkent Airport, Urgench Airport, and Khiva Railway Station. This single ticket will allow combining air and rail journeys via the Bir Yo‘l platform.
The launch of this service will require the development of tariff mechanisms and intersettlement between transport operators, as well as the integration of their information systems. The strategy also plans to reduce travel time by train between Tashkent and Khiva. Previously, the journey took 14 hours, but now it takes 7 hours and 40 minutes.
High-speed electric trains Jaloliddin Manguberdi, purchased from South Korea, began operating on the Tashkent–Urgench–Khiva route in the first half of 2026. The target groups of the strategy include both domestic and international tourists. Planned improvements include better transport connections between airports, stations, and tourist sites, multilingual navigation, a unified mobile application, and wider use of the Bir Yo‘l platform.